Sword Translation

[Boongie]

Hello.  I am new to this forum. I posted, in the Military Sword section of the forum, some pictures of a sword. In case this is the more appropriate place to post a request for assistance with the translation of the inscription of the sword, I am also posting here. Thank you for any assistance!

[Nobody]

Ref. http://ohmura-study.net/714.html

[Bruce Pennington]

Tōto-Jūnin Ikkansai Kunimori Kinsaku

 

Struggling with the first part - is it "Resident of Tokyo"?  Then "Ikkansai Kanimori carefully made this"?

Thanks!

[Boongie]

4 minutes ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Tōto-Jūnin Ikkansai Kunimori Kinsaku

 

Struggling with the first part - is it "Resident of Tokyo"?  Then "Ikkansai Kanimori carefully made this"?

Thanks!

Hi Bruce:

I did a search on this forum using "Kunimori". It came up with a topic started on July 23, 2018 titled "Help With Miyaguchi/ikkansai Kunimori Please". In July of this year someone posted the attached picture of the tang of another sword.  The inscriptions appear to be the same as the tang picture that I posted, don't you agree? I went ahead and posted the sword pictures on this older topic as it seems that there is an interest in knowing more about Kunimori. I am told that the steel is not tamahagane and that these types of swords were not made in the traditional method and were produced during WWII. I have also been told that these swords are valued from 3K to 5K, which I found somewhat surprising. I thought they would be about 1/2 that amount.

Steve

[SteveM]

Yes, it is the same inscription

 

東都住人一貫齊國護謹作

 

東都住人 -  Tōto jūnin  (Resident of Eastern Capital: aka Tōkyō)

一貫齊 -  Ikkansai  (this is an "art name", a sort of pen name that the artist adopts. In Japanese its called a "gō". )

國護     -  Kunimori  (this is the artists name. Actually it is an adopted name, often different from the artists birth/given name). 

謹作    -   Kinsaku (made diligently)

 

[Boongie]

15 hours ago, SteveM said:

Yes, it is the same inscription

 

東都住人一貫齊國護謹作

 

東都住人 -  Tōto jūnin  (Resident of Eastern Capital: aka Tōkyō)

一貫齊 -  Ikkansai  (this is an "art name", a sort of pen name that the artist adopts. In Japanese its called a "gō". )

國護     -  Kunimori  (this is the artists name. Actually it is an adopted name, often different from the artists birth/given name). 

謹作    -   Kinsaku (made diligently)

 

Thank you for the translation!  I would be interested to know how many swords with these same inscriptions were made. And in what time period. I checked with the owner and there are no inscriptions on the other side of the tang. Based on what I have received as responses, it seems that these are non-traditional swords with what I have been told is western steel. Manufactured for officers during World War II. As I collect Japanese items of this era, but have not yet ventured into the shin gunto arena (other than owning an NCO sword), I don't have a good idea of the value of this specific sword. I posted pictures of it in the military section of this forum. I am posting the same pictures here as well.

 

Again, thank you for the translation.

 

Steve

[IJASWORDS]

Steve S, that tang you posted above is one of mine. Here are some more photos of the Koshirae with pierced Tsuba, and fairly rare, mint, painted wood Saya. No date, no stamps. 

[Boongie]

On 9/9/2020 at 11:57 PM, IJASWORDS said:

Steve S, that tang you posted above is one of mine. Here are some more photos of the Koshirae with pierced Tsuba, and fairly rare, mint, painted wood Saya. No date, no stamps. 

 

 

 

 

Neil, does your sword tang have a similar coloring as the one that I posted? Thanks.

[IJASWORDS]

Tang colour photographs differently in different light. 

[Kiipu]

On 9/8/2020 at 11:50 PM, SteveM said:

Yes, it is the same inscription.

 

If you ain't cheating, than you're not trying hard enough!

Japanese Sword Questions